I will admit that just the word “vintage” conjures up memories of poorly organized antique shops and mysterious pungent odors. I love the thought of vintage, but most shops I have ventured into leave me wanting to run for the hills. However, a new website called Reppio.com is out to help guide true lovers of all styles to the best and brightest privately owned shops in Chicago neighborhoods. “It’s all about helping small businesses,” states Reppio Rep Annie Dean. “A lot of people who come to the city don’t know where to begin and might end up dismissing the charm of a neighborhood like Wicker Park just because they wandered into a store that’s wrong for them and their style.” Reppio is online and ready to help you find the designers, shops, and items that will suit your style whether you’re shabby chic or trendy urban.

Coachella and YouTube team up to bring music to the world. (Courtesy of Coachella Music + Arts Festival)

“Wow, just Wow.” I keep telling myself as I watch the French band Phoenix performing live at the Coachella Music Festival on a channel created specific to stream the entire weekend. As a matter of fact, Coachella worked with YouTube creating THREE channels! Streaming live performance of nearly 75 artist through 3 days. Such acts include the aforementioned Phoenix, Blur, Teagan and Sara, Ginderman, Spiritulaized, Vampire Weekend, Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the first performance in some years of The Postal Service.

Pai, Thailand – I have a dilemma. It has to do with the Chinese and Thai traditions of releasing hot air rice paper lanterns (Kongming [Chinese], Khom Loi [Thai]) into the night sky. Happens quite often in the north of the country now, with numerous lanterns coloring the black, faint white polka doted sky with moving golden orange pixels of various sizes. The first site of it is rather striking and as more people release lanterns into the sky, the night becomes that much more entrancing. So what’s my problem with this?

I really didn’t know what all the fuss was about. I mean yeah I like cars. Ok, I really like cars…and bikes…I’m a guy. But what was so big about a compact box shaped four door that twelve men (and some of their families) drove from around the Malay peninsula to share a weekend?

Singapore – That time of year again for Formula One’s only entirely night race on it’s calendar. Welcome back to The Lion City ladies and gentlemen, and to the Marina Bay Street Circuit which has hosted the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix since 2008. The past four races have proven to be quite the spectacle with 2010 edition showcasing four drivers within ten points of each other in the F1 Drivers’ Championship. German Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) won that race which ended up propelling him to the top of the board for that said championship by season’s end. This 2012 addition finds a different scenario entering the race with Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) leading the field by a 37 point margin. (Remember that a win gives a driver 25 points while top ten finishers all receive a lesser amount based on final position.)

Why can Australia effective use LPG for public consumption and the US not? (image courtesy of drive.com.au)

A right-handed turn from the left lane. Around the roundabout to turn around. Yielding to electric trams as they stop to pick up passengers. Yep, just a few of the challenges a driver will face in Melbourne, Vic. Not to mention paying on average AUS$1.37 per liter which equates to nearly US$5.20 per gallon at the current exchange rate. yikes.

But the right-sided steering column is not the only thing different between Australian and United States automobiles. How about cars that supplement their fuel usage with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)? We have school buses, heavy machinery and public worker fleets that run on it in the States, why not cars?